On a number of occasions Mark has advised that the game is evolving and we should get used to it. It is difficult to argue with either point. The game has evolved out of necessity to offer a sense of fairness in competition and to, as they say, level the playing field with a standard set of enforceable rules.
Actually, if you Google it, there are ample sources following the evolution of the game. All aspects have a history, even the bat.
This from “The Evolution of the Baseball Bat” by Bernie Mussill:
“Bill Deane, Senior Research Associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York has on record a well-documented account of a baseball game played on June 19, 1846, at Elysian Field in Hoboken, New Jersey.